The Drop Bar Restaurant — Restaurant in Manchester

I can't begin to explain the absolute Shambles that we experienced when we visited. The waitress even said it had been shambolic! We waited over 20 minutes for any drinks orders to be taken. Granted some of our party did arrive late, but drinks orders can just be taken whenever. We had to physically get up and ask the waitress to take our drinks order on the first table - we had two tables due to our party size and social distancing rules. They then took our other drinks order for our other table after that. The second table received their drinks quite quickly after ordering. The first table waited a further half an hour for the drinks. We ordered two pitchers, between five people - which they were told when asked how many glasses we would need - and two soft drinks. When we asked where the drinks were we were told that that there were not enough pitchers and that they would have to give us one pitcher and then just put the other one in glasses. We were obviously fine with that, and we just wanted our drinks! I need to add that the outdoor section we were seated in had no ventilation, with the sun beating down. It was like a greenhouse and everyone - other tables included - were having to fan themselves with the menus. A table behind us received a pitcher and then after drinking it, they asked what it was as they had not ordered it - it was ours!!!! The same table had also had to physically get up to ask where their drinks were. When we finally received the first jug of cocktail, we waited another five minutes before we were given any glasses. The second 'pitcher' arrived in three glasses. We were told that the pitcher only filled three glasses and we would have to split the three glasses into five ourselves. By this point we had waited an entire hour to receive the drinks. We asked if we could have a further two glasses as we had waited so long and we had stated at the beginning that the pitcher was to be shared between five of us, and we were told that the manager had said no. At this point we had still not had our food order taken!!!! We asked to have our food order taken, and this was finally done over an hour after arriving. The soft drinks had still not arrived at this point, so had to be ordered again. When the food arrived, there were items missing, and one of the party had asked for their food to be extra spicy - the poor waitress had not been told by the chef which one this was, so we just had to guess! We eventually got two of the missing items - one of them being someone's main course - and even though other items were missing, we decided to share because by this point it was way too much hassle to ask for anything else! More drinks were ordered, some of which never arrived, but again it was not worth the hassle to ask for these. When we had finished, the tables weren't attempted to be cleared for some time, and even when we left, there were still plates of half eaten food on the table - we also witnessed another table inside that was not cleared for over twenty minutes after the couple had left. When we asked for the bill, we were told to go inside as they had not anticipated us wanting to split the bill!!!!!!!! I mean 🤦🏼‍♀️. When we went in to pay, we were then told that everyone has to come up to pay one after another due to how their card machine works. It just got very confusing. All we wanted to do was have the bill delivered to the table, work our what we owed, and go up and pay it. Eventually this was done! They had added a tip on without consulting with us, and an excuse was made for this. When we complained about the service, we were blamed for ordering drinks at different times! So apparently it was no longer because of the lack of...

Since moving to Chorlton, The Drop has become one of our 'go to' takeaways and, when the mood takes us, restaurants to visit. Always reasonably priced (especially in January when they have had offers on this year and in the past!), with really tasty Carribbean food, I'd highly recommend it either as a takeaway or as somewhere to eat in.

On the takeaway side of things, me and my partner usually order a hench box between us, along with some extra dumplings. And that's usually enough for the two of us! We're big fans of the goat in particular, but the jerk chicken is also good. We tend to get a takeaway from here every couple of months or so, and have no complaints at all about any of them - the food is always great.

On eating in, again our experience has always been great! However, you can expect it to be quite busy and tight for space at times (it's not the biggest restaurant, size wise). This is especially the case around weekends or when an offer is on. If you aren't a fan of bustle then it might not be for you, but me and my partner quite like that side of it - it really adds to the atmosphere I'd say, personally.

The food is great and when we last visited, we had the curried goat, the pepper steak with spinners, some rice and peas, and dumplings. It all tasted fab - strong flavour, a nice kick of spice without being overpowering, with plenty of the rice and dumplings to mop up the sauce. It was fantastic, and we both finished our plates which was no mean feat, as they were generous portions!

There's a range of drinks you can get alongside the meal, and when we last visited we stuck with the beers. However, they also do a range of cocktails too.

We visited during the January food offer, so for our two drinks, mains and sides, plus service, it came to just over £30. An absolute bargain, for what we got! And definitely reasonable at full price too.

Service when we visited was also good, with the caveat that the place is very busy and so it can feel a bit chaotic at times (which isn't a bad thing as I think it adds to the charm!). But on quite a hectic evening with the restaurant pretty full, we were seated, had our order taken, were served our food, and paid without any problems and with good service throughout.

All in all, a really good place to either dine in or get a takeaway, and during January a must visit as it is an...

I love the food here and have been a few times but every time I go because the food is so good it overcomes the poor service. This includes the time we ordered a takeaway and hubby came home complaining about how expensive the food was there. When he told me what he'd paid I knew there'd been a mistake so phoned the restaurant. It turned out they'd charged him for the bill of people dining in who'd booked a table with the same first name we'd given when ordering the takeaway. Presumably they got to leave without paying!

Today however was the straw that broke the camel's back. I find the staff are always very friendly and polite but there's just no organisation. In the past I've had to wait 30 minutes to get a drink, abandoned hopes of getting the second drink I'd ordered and had to chase up our food. I've gone back anyway as I do love their food. Tonight though, the restaurant was quiet when we arrived, with just 7 people in there (2 of eh had finished their meals) besides the 4 of us. Despite this, an hour later we still didn't have our food although 2 takeaway orders had been collected and 2 tables of people who arrived and ordered after us were served their food. The waitress on seeing our looks of dismay and anger - our 2 kids were hungry, bored and cold - only then told us that there'd been a mix-up and the chef hadn't even started cooking our meal!

The restaurant was cold - 5 of the 7 people had their coats on still. I was fighting the urge to put mine on when I noticed a heater nearby that wasn't even turned on. I turned it on but why the staff haven't done this I don't know.

I am really disappointed and angry about the experience we had at The Drop tonight - we were all really looking forward to the food and we were celebrating my husband's birthday. Instead, on finding out our food hadn't started to be cooked, we ended up just going home and grabbing something from the fridge.

I can't say don't go because there's a lot about The Drop that is good - the food and the friendliness of the staff - but what is bad, and has been on the 5 or 6 occasions I've eaten there, is the complete lack of organisation. Get that sorted please The Drop as I would love to come back and enjoy every aspect of the meal, not just...